How CTOs Can Best Utilize Recruiters with Kimberly Owen

Audio Version

Joining us to explain how CTOs can best utilize recruiters is my friend and expert recruiter Kimberly Owen. Kimberly has been a recruiter for 23 years, starting in London then Silicon Valley during the first dotcom boom. Now she is based in southern California.

On today’s CTO Studio, we talk about what she’s learned during those two decades as a recruiter in tech including why recruiters have a bad rap, what CTOs can do to make the most of their relationships with recruiters and what does the term “culture fit” actually mean?

Listen in for the answers to those questions and much more on the topic of recruiting in the tech world today on this episode of CTO Studio.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

What was it like recruiting during the first dotcom boom?

Why do recruiters get a bad rap?

What language should you avoid when listing a job description?

What is the proper format for a resume?

How can CTOs improve their relationships with recruiters?

And so much more!

One of my first questions was when should a CTO stop using their networks and start using a recruiter like Kimberly? She says it depends on how quickly you need the product development to happen. How quickly are you bringing your product to market and what is the trade-off?

Once you answer those questions then you can decide if recruiting is your best choice or if you should check with your network.

If you are going to use your network, her advice is to be active with your social media presence. You should specify on LinkedIn what you are hiring for – especially those top positions. You should be advertising those roles. If you have an internal person who manages candidate flow they need to get an outreach campaign underway and that needs to include your own network.

So after social media, what else? Kimberly says meet ups are an option but you need to know if these events are where people are asking for help and talking about vacancies and openings. If they are not then the meet ups won’t help you.

And how can CTOs work on their brand and their messaging to ensure they are attracting the right candidates?

The job description is really important – she sees a lot of awful ones! Be sure to talk about the vision of your company and where you are going and what this person will contribute towards that vision coming to life. Candidates want a story. They want to know why do other people like working at the company, why would they want to work there and what life-changing things will they impact by being on the staff of this company.

Are you a technology professional looking to connect with like minded people? Sign up to get connected with 7CTOs!

In summary, you should be capturing the story that includes the vision and the values of your company.

Once you’ve done that be sure the job description is in the right places and having the right filters in place for whomever you enlist in your organization to sort through the candidates.

And if you still can’t find the right person then go to a recruiter like Kimberly!

My next question was about recruiters – why do they have a bad rap and what should we look for to know we are hiring a good recruiter? To answer the first question, Kimberly says recruiters get a bad rap when they are focused on the transaction and the end result, without much for the company and the company’s story.

You’ll know you have a good recruiter by evaluating who they know, their client list and if they have longevity with their clients. A good bet is a reference from another client of theirs and asking to talk to a few of the candidates they have placed. And meet with them in person to better understand their ethos and their culture. It requires your personal investment.

Next, we move on to the candidate aspect of the process. What works on this side of things? Kimberly answers that question along with the steps to expect when hiring a recruiter and what positions are in greatest demand right now.

Hear those topics plus her story of recruiting for Facebook during the first dotcom crash. This is one show you don’t want to miss so be sure to tune into today’s CTO Studio.